Australian Bulletin of Labour
Volume 28, Issue 1, 2002
Getting at the truth about hiring
apprentices: A critique of Dockery et al
ISSN: 03116336
Chapman, P. & Cully, M.
pages 53-64
Abstract
In the September 2001 issue of the Australian Bulletin of Labour, Dockery, Kelly, Norris and
Stromback (DKNS) purported to show that the average employer lost $7,215 in employing a trainee
for a year, and $38,329 for employing an apprentice over the full 4 years of training. Moreover, the
net cost of employing an apprentice was said to have risen in real terms by 68% between 1996 and
2000 - a figure arrived at by comparing DKNS with the results of an earlier study using the same
methodology involving 2 of the same 4 authors. The validity of those findings is disputed on the basis
of critical shortcomings in their method. A discussion of the implications of that is presented.